dumb – and lovable – as America herself. The movie came out in 1994, after we had won the Cold War and were living at the end of history. Forrest Gump was a victory lap. It was the cinematic illustration of the Tocqueville quote. America was great because America was good, even if it was more than a little stupid. Sure, we have more Nobel-prize winners than any other country, but we also have Florida Man committing head-slappingly stupid crimes (“Florida man kidnaps scientist to make his dog immortal”). Yes, many other countries have Nobel prize winners, but what other country has Florida Man? Florida Man is a redneck crook idiot who deserves his Rube Goldberg punishments, and while many leftists believe America is less Forrest Gump and more Florida Man – especially the leftists who hate guns – they’re wrong. For as Otter, the head of the Deltas, tells the Student Senate in National Lampoon’s Animal House in the most stirringly patriotic speech ever delivered in an American film: The issue here is not whether we broke a few rules or took a few liberties with our female party guests – we did. But you can’t hold a whole fraternity responsible for the behavior of a few, sick perverted individuals. For if you do, then shouldn’t we blame the whole fraternity system? And if the whole fraternity system is guilty, then isn’t this an indictment of our educational institutions in general? I put it to you... Isn’t this an indictment of our entire American society? Well, you can do what you want to us, but we’re not going to sit here and listen to you badmouth the United States of America!
American Consequences
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